October 2007

We are still feeling elated because of the tremendously successful 3rd Annual Rhody's Run for the Troops and all the support you showed our troops.  We raised over $11,000!  Thank you for your participation and support.

We are in a transition for Pack It Up:
Pete, Rrea and Luke are all home.  This is great news.

SPC Christopher Sanchez is due home within a few weeks.  We were happy to meet Ron Sanchez, Chris' father, at the race a few weeks ago.  Ron told us Chris should be arriving home soon after approximately16 months in Iraq.

1LT Matt Offiler is moving - he is changing bases and moving to a new team.  In the meantime, Matt has requested that we not send any more packages until he sends us his new address.  We are hoping to take on a contact in Matt's former squadron at the same time continue supporting Matt as well.  We don't like the thought of Matt's former squadron not receiving the Pack It Up boxes that Matt told us got them very excited.

Here is Matt's email in response to the packages we recently sent to him, including a portable DVD player "the other gift in the small black case":

Hello Kristin,

  I received several more boxes from you today. I distributed most of the snacks and movies to my soldiers who were once again very grateful for your support. I did, however, hold on to a few things for myself. The newspapers from RI were nice, it was interesting to see what was going on close to home, as well as how the media there was publicizing the war. I also kept the other gift in the small black case. Thank you very much. I have spent much of this past week at our safe house and have a few more days out there this week and next week, which will give me plenty of opportunities to use it. This may be the last set of packages that my soldiers here will receive from Packitup though, since I am moving to a new unit and new base in just a few weeks. Im sure whatever soldiers I have there will be very happy to see the packages the new LT keeps getting sent. I hope the race this weekend goes well and I hope I will be able to be there next year for it. I hope you are doing well. Thank you again.

Matt
 

Packages to New Contact SGT Nathan Cleary:

Our new contact, see panel on the left, was sent his first round of packages from Pack It Up.  Due to a misplaced digital camera, I can't show you the pictures!

We had a list from Nathan of specific requests and this is what we sent to him and his crew:
hot chocolate, dental floss, deoderant, shaving cream, toothpaste, Power Bars, Little Debbie snacks, Choc Chip Cookies, envelopes, pens and stationary, hand sanitizer, 2 Nike sweatshirts, shampoo and conditioner, feminine products, slim jim, drink mixes, soap and dvds including:  Superman, Knocked Up, Blades of Glory and Marshall. 

Nathan has 50 males and 15 females that we are trying to support so we sent both male and female versions of the toiletry items above.

If you were a part of Pack It Up last Holiday Season, you were a part of a very successful letter writing campaign. We ask that you do the same this year. Please find the time to write one letter to a solider in a Iraq. Write anything you'd like - tell them about yourself, what is going on in the US with sports, politics, your life... be sure to tell them why you are proud of them and that you have not forgotten them while they are overseas. This letter is between you and them and no one else.

Although we sent loads of presents and stockings last year, the most appreciated were the letters from you and your families.

So, please, take a few minutes, write a letter and send it in the mail to us. We will make sure it is in their Christmas stocking...

All letters should be sent to:
Pack It Up
500 Randolph Ave
Milton, MA 02186

This is a great project for schools, Girl/Boy Scouts, and families to do.   If you need help organizing it at your child's school, please email Kristin at kris@packitup.org.
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DON'T FORGET what CPT Chris Krahulec wrote to us, and to all of you, last year after he received the Christmas letters and packages:

Dear Ms. Struck,
 Thank you for your generous packages and kind letters.  As you know it is our honor to receive support from the American public whether it is a card, letter, package or a combination of both.  It is uplifting and inspiring to receive such support from almost complete strangers.  Your simple act of kindness and generosity provides an immense moral boast to the young Marines, especially during the Christmas Season.  As you can expect, some of the Marines did not receive very much from their family and your boxes and letters helped bring the spirit of Christmas to these young men.